Happy
35th Birthday Long Island Wine Country!
By
Christopher J. Davies
Editor & Co-Founder
Wine Country International® magazine
Long Island Wine Country is now 35 years old, which in winespeak,
makes it a
teenager in the world of wine. The region will always be considered
boutique, because all combined Long Island Vineyards add up to just
3,000 acres of planted grapevines (One acre of land is home to between
900 and 1,300 vines). World-Famous Napa Valley, which produces just
4% of all California wine, has 45,275 acres planted in vineyards!
With that said, Long Island Wine Country has a micro-climate that
is almost an exact replica of Bordeaux, one of the most important
wine producing regions in the world! Long Island Wine Country (North
Fork & Hamptons) is more like Bordeaux than any other place
in America. That my wine loving
friends is a VERY GOOD thing. If you like traditional Bordeaux varietal's
like Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc,
Semillon and Pinot Blanc...these are the grapes that ripen extremely
well in the region.
To make great wine, you need great grapes. Long Island vintners
and grape growers have spent millions to figure out how to grow
the best grapes. Several vintners have even hired Michelle
Rolland, the legendary "Flying Winemaker"
from France to help guide them. Joseph Macari, Jr.,
President & Co-Owner of Macari Vineyards and Winery,
has invested lots into organic grape growing techniques. For several
years, Macari has retained Alan York,
a biodynamic guru, who has worked with Benziger Family Winery
and Fetzer in California. Having tasted Macari's
wines lately, the results of this investment in the vineyards is
noticeable in the glass. Winemaking is a combination of science,
art and good luck. The first two elements set the individual style
of the winery. The third "good luck" applies to weather.
Weather is the wild card for every vintner. Long Island is especially
susceptible to wet weather conditions. Water, believe it or not,
does not help the grapes grow better or bigger. They need very little
irrigation and thrive on being stressed (having little water).
The
2007 Long Island grape harvest was by most accounts, the best harvest
of this decade. Some vintners have reported a double digit increase
in grape yields or tons of grapes harvest. The weather conditions
last summer were hot and dry with cool nights. In comparison, 2006
was a much rainier, humid season. Many vintners lost a good percentage
of their white grapes in 2006. I am looking forward to tasting the
wines from the 2007 vintage to see/taste for myself. The 2007 whites
will start to be released this summer. Reds from 2007 will be aged
mostly in expensive French Oak barrels for two to three years.
Happy
35th birthday Long Island Wine Country!
I raise my glass to your promising future.
Grapefully
yours,
Christopher
J. Davies
Publisher
For
additional Information contact:
Wine Country Network Inc.
P.O. box 6023
Broomfield, CO 80021 USA
Tel. (866) 946-3268
Fax. (303) 926-0315
E-mail: info@longislandwinecountry.com
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